Enraged over a railway demolition drive in west Delhi that has been blamed for the death of a 6-month-old infant, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today met Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, announcing that there will be no further slum demolitions without rehabilitation.
“In principle, it was decided that there will be no demolition anywhere without rehabilitation in the coming days,” Kejriwal said after meeting Prabhu. “If any land is required for whichever railways projects, they should give us a schedule and Delhi government will first rehabilitate them before demolition,” he said.
Railways had undertaken a demolition drive at Shakur Basti on Satuday removing about 1,200 slums and shops in the area. The drive caused a storm over the death of a child in the area. While Delhi government alleged that the child died during the drive, Railways maintained that the toddler died much before the removal of encroachment.
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